Hi,
I have done a lot of sketching this summer, and have put some of my favorite
sketches into a set on Flickr which can be found at
https://flic.kr/s/aHskiEZS6i.
I hope you enjoy them. if you wish to indulge me further, you can read the
essay below on how and why I made these. I'd love to hear your opinions on the
sketches and the essay. Thanks.
> I've been making abstract sketches (the only kind i was ever able to make)
> off and on (mostly off) since at least 1970. At the beginning of June I took
> an informal dance workshop which ended with some sketching. I was intrigued
> and bought a few magic markers and a couple of sketchbooks. I quickly
> discovered that sketching was the most centering thing I could do by myself
> and have been sketching more and more since, using magic marker pens and,
> more recently, oil pastels. It had the advantage of not requiring the use of
> a computer and the further advantage (at first!) that I was not as invested
> in the quality of the results as I would be when doing photography or video.
>
> Sketching has helped me deal with some stressful and emotionally troubling
> issues. There is a park with a lovely lake two blocks from my house, and I
> try to bring down some pens and a sketchbook to a picnic table in the park
> for at least an hour of sketching on every nice day. I also sketch at home,
> usually for at least an hour a day.
>
> I have always worked improvisationally in every art form that I have pursued,
> but I quickly realized that I needed to develop some new strategies for
> sketching, because a medical condition makes it impossible for me to draw a
> precise line or shape. I've been trying to judo my weakness into a strength
> by thinking of all the things I can do that somebody who could draw a precise
> line might not think of. Sometimes I pick out a pen and a region of the
> picture work on and just go on whim, and draw whatever line my hand wants to
> draw. On occasion, I pick out a pen and draw some lines very quickly without
> even thinking about it. I often draw percussively, wielding the pan as if it
> were a drum stick. Sometimes I listen to the ambient sounds (if outdoors) or
> music (if indoors) and let the sound guide my hand.
>
> I often start drawing a line without knowing where it will go or how long it
> will be – I just keep moving the pen until I seem to be done. I've also
> developed techniques for very quickly making textures with a rapidly drawn
> sequence of short thin lines. When I make a 'mistake' I try to follow Brian
> Eno's oblique strategy "honour thy error as a hidden intention" and find a
> way to incorporate the error into the piece.
>
> Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of analogies to dance in my sketching. I
> think of it as something like contact improvisation for pens and paper. Dance
> teachers and facilitators often tell us to think more about how it feels than
> about how it looks. This seems like a peculiar metaphor to use in a visual
> art, but in practice I often look at the sketch in progress, choose a pen,
> and do whatever my body wants to do in reaction to the stretch.
-- Emile
Art is man's way of saying "I love you" to the universe.
My photography can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22231918@N06/collections/72157603627170351/
My videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/Tobenfeld
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